I have no idea. You should have hit the brakes and stopped and taken pictures with those guys. Maybe they were vigilantes or actors rehearsing for a movie. Either way the photos of you with them would have been a highlight of this report! Keep it coming and good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romanousky

Yeah, the cars were parked right alongside the highway but of course I wasn't paying too much attention. It looked like a couple Toyota corollas or even Camry style...probably 10 years old. And a couple pickups....not real big, Nissans or Toyotas. Why, do you have a different idea of what this may have been?

Hey guys meet you in mulege. Glad you liked playa santispec. Funny we stopped ate and chilled in insurgents and didnt get the privilege of meeting the cartel as the wife would have definitely asked me to get the f#@k out of there. Glad to see you got some fresh rubber on as those front tires look shot.

I have no idea. You should have hit the brakes and stopped and taken pictures with those guys. Maybe they were vigilantes or actors rehearsing for a movie. Either way the photos of you with them would have been a highlight of this report! Keep it coming and good luck.

Hey guys meet you in mulege. Glad you liked playa santispec. Funny we stopped ate and chilled in insurgents and didnt get the privilege of meeting the cartel as the wife would have definitely asked me to get the f#@k out of there. Glad to see you got some fresh rubber on as those front tires look shot.

Ride safe guys we will be following your report.

It was a pleasure to have lunch with you and your family. I think we just seriously lucked out on the Cartel thing. Yeah, I'm happy to have new shoes on I just hope the Maxxis doesn't cup like the MT21. I ran into another ADVer in Los Barilles that has the MT21 on the front that looked just like mine....take care Kevin

Today we decided to go for a ride…..about time huh? Locked all the goods in the villa and headed up the east side……bike feels like my old CR250 after dropping 80+ pounds. We ran about 30 miles (80% offroad) to Santiago to see a waterfall (vid above). The ride was great but being from Oregon and all the waterfall was lacking…..until you realize you’re in the middle of the desert and it’s about 105* and there is a continuous flow of crystal clear water exploding from boulders with cacti sprouting up all around.

A steep hike down:

Hiked back out of the waterfall zone, suited up in gear, and went to check out Los Barriles. On the way out of the waterfall park I had a large 4’ snake that was yellow and black slither in front of me across the sandy washboard road.
We have had a number of dogs try to take us down in small cities and Santiago did not disappoint.

Since I have the GPS I am usually out in front when entering the cities so I get to awaken the dogs with the loud exhaust and they run for Alex. At the last turn out of town a large white mutt comes hauling ass after me and I’ve got an Alto sign right in front of me. I touch the front brake and then scoot through the intersection. As I’m blowing the Alto the dog turns for Al. Alex hates dogs and is constantly bitching about them so I get a kick out slowing down and watching the seen unfold. Alex slows wayyyyy down and the dog is barking and pawing at him while he has one foot of the peg jumping around try to keep the dog’s face away from him while he is revving the engine attempting to scare it away. I’m just waiting for his hand to slip off the clutch and watch him wheelie over and try to fend off the mutt….never happened but it was still a good show. I’ll turn on the GoPro next time we roll through a city and see if I can capture one of these moments.

Made it out of Santiago and rolled into Los Barriles. Met some nice folks who pointed us to the best Tacos Pescado (fish tacos) in town. They were probably the best in all of Baja with its own salsa bar to add any toppings you want.

Los Barriles is about half/half Gringos & Hispanics. A little touristy but not bad. We found a good campground right in town that we decided to come up to the following day. Rode back to Cabo Pulmo; a few beers and dinner and it was lights out at about 7:00 PM.

Woke up at 5:00 AM and went for a short 2 mile run down the coast line and watched the sunrise as all the wildlife woke up. Crabs were swarming the beaches while the birds dinned in paradise (sorry no camera on the jog). Back at the villa I met up with Alex and we headed for coffee at Maribelas’ mothers place just down the way. Truly fantastic coffee. Back at the room we packed up and headed for the exit but had to stop and get a photo with Maribela. She is a very fine host that took great care of us and I hope to see her again one day. Cabo Pulmo is known for its snorkeling and scuba diving on the reef less than a mile off the beach (only living reef off of Baja)…..maybe next time because the $40/day budget doesn’t allow scuba diving.

Arrived in Los Barriles in the morning and secured our campsite. The wind is blowing like crazy and the wind and kite surfers are soaking it up. We are just relaxing catching up on a little typing as we sit and envy the adrenaline junkies. And also debating how we can get a petcock and an upper chain roller shipped safely into Guatemala…..who f*ckin knows??

First day in Los Barriles we meet a few people:

A man named Tom from Oregon whose wife is staying in Cabo with girlfriends while he tent camps in a calmer neighborhood. Tom is into geocaching so talked me into signing up and passed off a “travel bug” that originated in Germany. I have strict instruction to deposit this “cache” at the Panama canal. No problem Tom.

Rinn and Sammi were our next door neighbors at the campground. Rinn is from Georgia, lived in Colorado for 6 years, and comes to Baja for fishing 6 months out of every year. Very nice guy and showed us around town for a bit.

Sammi is a Taiwanese woman who has been backpacking through Canada and US for the past 2 years. She is headed for Argentina and then Africa while she will learn the drums and hitchhike to Paris and become a street performer to pay for her travels through Russia/Asia back to Taiwan…..now there is an ambition plan. She speaks NO Spanish and is a beginner in the English language. Mandarin is no problem. Very cool girl but I think she is a little crazy

Kirk Russell, aka “Captain Baja”, owns Baja Tours MX and will gladly take you on a wild ride through baja on his badass KTM SXF’s. Laid back welcoming kind of guy that you would expect from a tour guide. Actually used to live in Medford, OR a while back before becoming a permanent resident on the Baja. After a few nips of whiskey we told him about Alex’s disintegrated upper chain roller and he jumped on the issue and wanted to help. Him and Alex hopped on the quad and zipped up to his place on the hill where he located a replacement part. Back at the campground the new part fit great and is working a charm. Thanks a ton Kirk….we won’t forget it.

In the evening met up with Rinn at Smokies for happy hour and nachos. Then Rinn wanted to take us out to a bar. Super seedy place called the Dolphin up out of town off the highway. Filthy smoky place but they had a decent pool table where we played like shit and drank ourselves under the table.

Your in luck I will be in Antigua on Saturday if you need some stuff imported in just pm me we will figure it out and I'll bring it in. Problem solved. I leave Friday from Portland so let me know quick

Your in luck I will be in Antigua on Saturday if you need some stuff imported in just pm me we will figure it out and I'll bring it in. Problem solved. I leave Friday from Portland so let me know quick

You are awesome! The offer is very much appreciated but I have already located someone flying into Antigua on the 14th. Not sure if you are busy/working/etc but we would be happy to buy you a beer for your generosity. Let us know. Cheers!

You are awesome! The offer is very much appreciated but I have already located someone flying into Antigua on the 14th. Not sure if you are busy/working/etc but we would be happy to buy you a beer for your generosity. Let us know. Cheers!

I'm never one to turn down a beer, I'm in language school to prepare for my own epic trip like yours. I am out by noon every day so ill scout it out for ya. See ya then

Your like me. I love food and it is great here. I just wish my daily budget was bigger because I wouldn't stop eating.

If we pass through your area we would love to stop for an evening. in fact, we may pass through the area just to be able to stay with a local! Thanks so much for the offer, we'll be in touch. Should be in that area in about 3 weeks.